U2

In 2009, U2 released its 12th album No Line On The Horizon, which took five years, four recording studios, and three superstar producers to make. Why has it become so difficult to make a U2 record? And why, after all that time and effort, is Horizon still not very good? And why is the band now writing tunes for ill-fated Broadway musicals like Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark? Not that any of it really matters—U2 has reached the point in its career where new albums and new projects act primarily as excuses to make a gajillion dollars on the road and in merch, and in that respect the band is as great as ever.

Updated 06/22/2011